03. Christ in the Home
Christ in the Home
JESUS said, "Today I must abide at thy house" I (Luk 19:5). What a blessed day that was in the home of Zacchaeus—Christ in the home! John Hyde/The Apostle of Prayer," as he was of- ten called, was reared in a home where Jesus was an abiding guest, and where the dwellers in that home breathed an atmosphere of prayer. I was well acquainted with John’s father, Smith Harris Hyde, D.D., during the seventeen years he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Carthage, Illinois. Dr. Herrick Johnson, of Chicago, shortly before he died wrote these words: "Hyde’s father was of rare proportion and balance, a healthful soul, genial and virile, firm of con- viction, of good scholarly attainment, of abundant cheer and bent on doing for God to the best of his ability."
Personally I knew him in his home to be a courteous, loving husband. I knew him to be a firm yet sympathetic father, "commanding his household after him." I knew the sweet-spirited, gentle, music-loving, Christ-like Mrs. Hyde. I knew each one of the three boys and three girls who grew up in that home. Often I have eaten at their table. Twice I have been with the family when the crepe was on the door; once when Mrs. Hyde was taken away, and again when dear John’s body was brought home and lovingly laid to rest in Moss Ridge Cemetery. Often I have kneeled with them and have, as a young minister, been strangely moved when dear Dr. Hyde poured out his heart to God as he prayed at the family altar. I knew him in his church and in the Presbyterial meetings. He was a noble man of God. Under God, his congregation was built up, and he was a leader among his ministerial brethren. I have frequently heard Dr. Hyde pray the Lord of the har- vest to thrust out laborers into his harvest. He would pray this prayer both at the family altar and from his pulpit. It is therefore no strange thing that God called two of his sons into the Gospel ministry, and one of his daughters for a time into active Christian work. A minister once said in my hearing, "My son will never follow me into the ministry. He knows too well the treatment a minister receives at the hands of the people." Dr. Hyde magnified his office and rejoiced to give his sons up to a life of hardship and trial. Why are there thousands of churches in our country without pastors today? A prominent pastor recently said to me : "Our denomination is facing a tremendous shortage of pastors." Why are the millions in the foreign field yet waiting for the human voice to proclaim to them the everlasting Gospel of the Son of God?
Today I read in "Far North in India" the statement by a former missionary in India, Dr. W. B. An- derson, that a hundred million people in India today have not heard of Jesus Christ, and as things are now have not the remotest chance to hear about him. There are other millions in Africa and other countries in the same Christless ignorance. Why is it so? Because prayer closets are deserted, family altars are broken down, and pulpit prayers are formal and dead!
Bible schools and seminaries can never supply the workers needed. My own sainted mother prayed as a young girl that the doors of the heathen countries might be opened. Afterwards as the mother of ten children (eight of whom grew to manhood and womanhood), she prayed for laborers to enter these open doors, and God sent one of her sons to India and two of her daughters to China.
Grandmother Lois and mother Eunice prayed, and when the Great Apostle to the Gentiles was about to take his departure he could lay his hands on son Timothy and commission him to "Preach the Word!"
John Hyde was an answer to prayer, and when in ofher years he prayed in Indian, God raised up scores of native workers in answer to his prayers. The Great Head of the Church has provided one method for securing laborers. He said:
"Look on the fields . . . they are white . . . the laborers are few . . . PRAY!"